Overthrone
by RnR Games
Review by Russ Lockwood
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Overthroneby RnR GamesReview by Russ Lockwood |
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Set in 17th Century France -- or as we like to call it, the 3 musketeers period -- Overthrone puts you in charge of a noble faction vying for power in the Royal Court. The interplay of musketeers, gold, courtiers, and provinces (the four "suits") under your noble direction constitutes the "intrigue and rebellion" of the era. Like the card game Hearts, each player takes turns placing a card in the middle, and the player with the highest value for each suit, collects the cards and puts them in play (called the "power structure"). Of course, players try to diminish others' power structure through the use of attacks (invade provinces with musketeers), bribery (use gold to leverage someone to your side), dueling, special events (like rebellion), and special characters (like the tax collector). Card play is rapid and simple, and fairly straightforward in applying the myriad of cards to the game. Like most card games, some snags occur regarding the timing of applying cards, but nothing too serious it can't be resolved. And most of these revolve around the "special person" cards--each of which have a special power or effect.
In another conundrum, the player playing the "Surveyor" card receives a province card from each player. However, since musketeers can be assigned to defend provinces, the question came up about whether the musketeers also switch sides. We reasoned that the musketeers entrusted with defending a spot and presumably loyal (at least until you bribe them away) would stay with the employer rather than a geographical locale. The Winner The winner is the one with the most points at game's end (no more cards left in the common deck). Certain cards provide points automatically, but the real keys to the kingdom are the provinces. Every time the Rebellion card shows up, there's a count of province points. Playing it at the right time can be devastatingly effective. The six Rebellion cards are the single most important type of cards in the game as they generate the majority of points. You soon learn to use them wisely. For example, unless you garrison your provinces with musketeers, another player can toss a Peasant Uprising event card and steal all your ungarrisoned provinces. Obviously, you want to toss the Rebellion card when you have the maximum provinces and before your opponent steals them from you. In one game, a player stole a dozen provinces in one turn and next turn played the Rebellion card -- 54 big points, and a great sequence of card play. Experienced card players will learn Overthrone in no time and play proceeds quickly -- about 2 hours for the first game and less with each succeeding game. As you only need one boxed set of cards, there's no need for constant booster pack upgrades. On the one hand, that's a pleasant alternative to the card-and-money escalation of collectible card games. On the other hand, if you buy into the collectible card-and-money escalation, and especially the competitive nature of ever-new card combos, a non-CCG like Overthrone will seem static during repeated playings. Personally, I enjoyed Overthrone. It's a nice "one-off" beer-and-pretzels card game you can introduce quickly to new players. Overthrone: it's not be overlooked. R&R Games Inc. Back to Other Game Review List Back to Master Game Review List Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998, 1999 by Coalition Web, Inc. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com |
Card game for 3-6 players (Age 12+)
For example, in one game, two special person cards -- the "Captain" (who eliminates other person cards) and the "Bishop" (who can excommunicate others to pick up points) were played. The Captain wanted to eliminate the Bishop, who wanted to excommunicate another "person" card. The rules note which suit goes first, but not special persons (which is not a "suit" and thus the numbers on the card do not indicate preference as with the suits). We resolved it in the order played--since the bishop was played first, the Bishop was allowed to excommunicate, followed by the Captain eliminating the Bishop. There's a great storyline in there...